Reapers hold on, and A STORMer comes to blow away the Beasts
Tuesday night saw two furious games in the Russel Smith Memorial Trophy, Reapers Vs. Scoprions, and Ducks Vs. Beasts.
First Game
The Reapers Vs Scorpions game was first with a close and hotly contested game, with the Scorpions having to win by 5 clear goals to get through on aggregate.
In the first period it all looked to be going the Scorpions way with brutal shooting and sharp use of rebounds putting them ahead while the Reapers struggled to connect and get past Stu Duncan in the Scorpions net.
Both teams had elite players playing for their first ever game, Craigie Chipunza for Scorpions and Ethan Fowler for the Reapers. Both of these new players were playing their hearts out and netted a goal each before the end!
Well done to them both, and what a pair of great new players to see coming through. Joseph Murphy also made a surprise appearance for the Scorpions adding his physical and aggressive game to their line-up.
The second half saw the Reapers holding on with equalisations which the Scorpions rapidly responded to; however once again Malachi Budd for the Reapers one of the association’s best players showed his quality with a late hat-trick on top of his other goals which put the Reapers into the lead with only a minute to go. The Scorpions put up a hell of a fight to try and win the game in those last seconds with furious attacks and the Reapers just a furiously defending.
Final score of Reapers 9-8 Scorpions sadly sees the scorpions put out of the cup this year, but with a game in the GAMEATHON to look forward to at least there is another chance for this team to shine.
Second Game
The second game saw the league winners and very dominant Beasts being taken on by the Ducks. Guest coach Arild Stormer took a yellow shirt for the ducks as they recently lost Hillel Sokolsky when he left to go back to Canada. Playing up for the first time was Jose Quinto, who showed great effort and skills for the Beasts.
This game couldn’t have surprised people more, with the Beasts having Lane McKay and Grant Budd on the roster it seems like it would be a close and tough game for the ducks even with some new help.
However in goal for the ducks Tom Watson showed his class and put everything that came his way down, an amazing first period saw the beasts firing shots, but nothing getting past him.
Stormer had a slow start, but quickly found his balance and rhythm with brutal slap shots coming in which quickly found their mark, and passes gliding through the field to open player further down, Kyran Evans benefitting from this on his line with some beautiful through passes to the midline for Kyran to take forward for 1 on 0 attacks.
The second half was much the same with the beasts pushing very hard on Tom Watson but just not finding any holes in his armour. Duck pressure mounted in this half with more goals coming from right across the team. Final score Ducks 8 – 0 Beasts, a rare shutout for Tom, and against the league champions is well worthy of mention.
Looking forward to Sunday 28th we have the Gameathon with opportunities to see all the teams play throughout the day, please make your way to the Stanley Leisure Centre and support the Hockey Association as we raise funds for the LATAM Cup in Miami in September.
